BERLIN — Iranian director Asghar Farhadi’s “Nader and Simin, A Separation,” a drama that centers on a disintegrating marriage, won the best movie honor and swept the acting awards at the Berlin film festival Saturday.
A six-member jury led by actress Isabella Rossellini handed the movie the top prize, the Golden Bear, and gave its ensemble cast, led by Peyman Moadi and Leila Hatami, the best actor and the best actress awards.
“I never would have thought that I would win this prize,” Farhadi said as he collected the Golden Bear.
He added that it offers “a very good opportunity to think of the people of my country — the country I grew up in, the country where I learned my stories — a great people.”
The best director honor went to Germany’s Ulrich Koehler for “Sleeping Sickness,” a film about an aid worker long based in Africa and his increasingly alienated wife.
The Associated Press
